Combined adjustable spanner and ratchet wrench

ABSTRACT

A combined adjustable spanner and ratchet wrench which when turned in the working direction, the jaws have a firm grip about the work piece and when turned in the return direction, the grip about the work piece is released so that the jaws slide thereabout. The wrench comprises a stem which passes through an opening in a tongue embraced by the legs of a fork-like end on the wrench handle, the stem connecting the fork legs and cooperating with the opening to limit the swinging movement of the wrench head and the handle reciprocally. The stem is arranged with the worm in its working position to take a stop position fixed by the edge contour of the opening by bearing on said edge contour.

United States Patent Nordgren 1 Dec. 16, 1975 1 1 COMBINED ADJUSTABLE SPANNER AND RATCHET WRENCH Inventor: Simon Nils Nordgren, 14,

Centralvagen, Rimbo, Sweden Filed: Nov. 16, 1973 Appl. No.: 416,346

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data June 28, 1973 Sweden 7309170 US. Cl 81/126; 81/165 Int. Cl. B25B 13/16 Field of Search 81/126, 165

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2/1961 Nordgren 81/126 3,312,129 4/1967 Nordgren i 81/165 X 3,349,654 10/1967 Nordgren 81/126 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 371,862 3/1923 Germany 81/126 178,449 3/1962 Sweden 81/165 Primary ExaminerAl Lawrence Smith Assistant Examiner.1ames G. Smith Attorney, Agent, 0) Firm-Smith, Harding, Earley & Follmer [57] ABSTRACT the fork legs and cooperating with the opening to limit the swinging movement of the wrench head and the handle reciprocally. The stem is arranged with the worm in its working position to take a stop position fixed by the edge contour of the opening by bearing on said edge contour.

7 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures Patent Dec. 16, 1975 Sheet 1 of 2 US. Patent Dec. 16, 1975 Sheet20f2 3,926,077

Fig.

COMBINED ADJUSTABLE SPANNER RATCHET WRENCH BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to the provision of a combined adjustable spanner and ratchet wrench of the kind known in the prior art, for instance, through the US. Pat. No. 3,349,654. When such a wrench in use is turned in one direction for tightening or loosening a nut, screw or the like work piece, i.e. in its working direction, the jaws have a firm grip about the work piece, while, when turned in the opposite direction, the return direction, the grip about the work piece is released so that the jaws are sliding about the same. The one jaw besides being adjustable in the conventional manner by means of a worm and rack in this case is also displaceable in parallel between two positions, the fitting or gripping position in which the jaws have a firm grip about the work piece, and the freegoing or released position in which the jaws slide about the work piece without clamping and turning it. This displacement in parallel of the adjustable jaw is made possible by the worm being movable between two limitary positions and being in one of said positions, corresponding to the jaws gripping position, locked by ratchet means located in the wrench handle, which means are brought into and out of function by swinging the handle in relation to the wrench head between two limitary positions, the actuating and the freegoing position, respectively. It is important that the one limitary position, the actuating position, is fixed as accurately as possible, since there may otherwise easily arise a certain play in the jaws grip about the work piece, which may cause deformations of the same and jeopardize, or even make impossible, its tightening or loosening. In order to obtain such an accurate limitary position, special limit or stop faces between the handle and the wrench head are required. In wrenches known in prior art, for instance according to the US. Pat. No. 3,349,654, such limit or stop faces by way of proposal have been located on the ratchet means of the handle and on steps or shoulders projecting from the wrench head. In order to avoid the above inconveniences of too great a play said stop faces have required very careful machining, which has become all the more expensive since the machining of cooperating stop faces could not be carried out in one operation with the handle and the wrench head joined in their mutual working positions, and with the application of general accuracy of dimensions and fitting between the various components of the wrench. Moreover, the stop faces have been so located that they were exposed to coating with dirt or the like when using the wrench in practice.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is the general object of the invention to provide a combined adjustable spanner and ratchet wrench which totally eliminates the draw-backs mentioned above in the Background Of The Invention. Briefly stated, the wrench in accordance with the invention comprises a stem which passes through an opening in a tongue embraced by the legs of a fork-like end on the wrench handle, the stem connecting the fork legs and cooperating with the opening to limit the swinging movement of the wrench head and the handle reciprocally. The stem is arranged with the worm in its working position to take a stop position fixed by the edge BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a side elevation of an embodiment of the wrench with the wrench head and the handle in their normal mutual working positions and part of the handle left out;

FIG. 2 shows the wrench of FIG. 1 in a plan view;

FIG. 3 shows the wrench head and part of the handle in vertical section and mutually swung out of their normal working positions;

FIG. 4 shows in detail a portion of the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 3, but slightly modified, with the handle and the wrench head in their locked position, and

FIG. 5 is a similar view in detail as FIG. 4, illustrating another embodiment of the wrench, however, with the handle and wrench head in their unlocked position.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, l is the wrench head and 2 is the wrench handle. These two parts are pivotally joined by means of a pivot 3 extending through a tongue 4 projecting centrally from the wrench head 1, and through two legs 5, 6 projecting from the handle 2 and embracing the tongue 4 like a fork. The pivot 3 is located ad jacent to the upper side edge of the tongue 4. The wrench head is provided with a fixed jaw 7 and a movable jaw 8, which, in order to set the wrench gap to be used, is in the usual manner adjustable by means of a worm 9 and a cooperating rack 10 located on the jaw 8. The worm 9 is arranged in an opening 11 in the wrench head 1 and is pivotally and displaceably borne by a shaft 12. The worm 9 is kept in its upper position, i.e. the working position, as shown in FIG. 1, in the opening 11 both by means of a helical spring 12a located about the shaft 12, and also by means of a ratchet means 13 projecting from the fork legs 5, 6. The ratchet means 13 by acting as a brake to prevent turning of a worm formed washer 14 acts on the worm 9, so that the latter is displaced to and fixed in its upper limit position defined by the opening 11, when the handle 2 is turned about the pivot 3 in the working direction indicated by arrow A.

The tongue 4 has, as shown in FIG. 3, an opening 15 running right through the same and whose edge contour is totally closed. Between a stem or pin 16, connecting the legs or shanks 5, 6 of the handle, and the edge contour of the opening 15 there is inserted a pressure screw spring 17 suitably provided with a stop member 18 limiting its compression. In FIG. 3 the worm 9 has been displaced from its upper limit position and the wrench gap is larger than the wrench width of the nut or screw head 19 placed between the jaws 7, 8. The handle 2 has thus been turned in a direction opposite to arrow A about the pivot 3 relative to the wrench head 1. When the worm 9 is brought to its working position shown in FIG. 1, which implies that the upper end face of the worm, alternatively by a special washer not shown, bears on the upper edge of the opening 11 in the wrench head 1, the stem or pin 16 is brought to bear on the edge contour of the opening in its one end as shown by the dashed circle line 16a in FIG. 3. The outer portion 20 of the edge contour of the opening 15 as reckoned from the centre of pivot 3, is suitably bent in a circular are about the swinging centre, of pivot 3, in common for the wrench head 1 and the handle 2. In the opening 15 there is suitably arranged a guide or slide plate 21 reducing the bending out of the spring 17 when compressed and also facilitating the compression. The guide plate 21 may possibly be bowshaped and serve as a guide to the spring 17 also on its opposite side, as shown by dash lines in FIG. 3. For the inserting and taking out of the spring 17 of the opening 15 in the tongue 4 one of the handle legs or shanks 5, 6 may, although not shown in the drawing, be provided with a hole closable by a slide or the like.

The wrench according to FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 is provided with a handle lock by means of which the handle 2 and the wrench head 1 may be locked mutually in the working position shown in FIG. 1, enabling the wrench to be used as an adjustable spanner of the conventional kind. To this end, in the gap between the fork legs 5, 6 at their base end and beyond the end of the tongue 4 there is arranged a locking member 23 mounted in the handle 2 and turnable by an actuating member 22, said locking member 23 in its locking position being arranged to cooperate with a shoulder 24 on the tongue 4. The lid mentioned hereinbefore may then be made as a turnable lock washer fixing the locking member 23 axially.

It is clear that the stop faces fixing the wrench head 1 and the handle 2 in their working position and formed by the side edge of the opening 15 and the stem 16, are located well protected between the legs 5, 6. Furthermore, it is clear that the holes in the legs 5, 6 required for the stem 16 can be made or, at least, finished after the mounting of the wrench head 1 and the handle 2, and then be placed in such a way that the corresponding machining of the holes and the side edge of the opening 15 will be carried out simultaneously. Also, the position of the opening 15 makes it possible, when necessary, to clean the stop faces without the need of demounting the wrench.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 4 the locking member 23 located in the handle 2 and cooperating with the shoulder 24, and its actuating member 22 are shown in their locking position. The opening 25 in the wrench head tongue 26 is here open and forms a U- shaped recess from the lower edge of the tongue 26. The front edge 27 of the opening 25 is here in direct contact with the stem 28, the worm being in its working position. The spring 29 is retained and guided in its position by a guide plate 30, suitably removably mounted on the tongue 26 by means of screws or such like means not shown.

FIG. 5 illustrates a further embodiment of the invention having a recess 31 at the lower edge of the tongue 32 of approximately U-shape. In this case the wrench head and the handle will be actuated by a draw spring inserted between the tongue 32 and a holding plate 34 connected to the handle 33, which spring 35 tends to keep the handle and the wrench head in their mutual working position, the stem 36 taking the position in the recess 31 as shown by the dashed circle line 36a. The connection of the holding plate 34 with the handle 33 is effected by means of a pin 37 carrying the handle locking member 39 cooperating with the shoulder 38 of 4 the tongue 32. The holding plate 34, which may for example be bow-shaped, bears resiliently on the locking member 39, thus keeping this in its set position.

The embodiments shown in the drawing and described hereinbefore are only giving examples of the invention and shall therefore not be regarded as limiting the scope of the invention.

I claim:

1. A combined adjustable spanner and ratchet wrench adapted to clamp and turn a work piece when turned in the working direction and to slide on the work piece without turning the same when turned in the return direction opposite to the working direction, said wrench comprising a wrench head having a fixed jaw and a moveable jaw, means for setting the moveable jaw including a rack on the moveable jaw and a worm engaging said rack and displaceable axially between two limitary positions including a working position, a handle having a fork-like construction at one end provided by a pair of legs, said wrench head having a tongue projecting centrally therefrom and being embraced by said legs of said fork-like end of said handle, axle means perpendicular to the main plane of the wrench received in said wrench head and said handle for pivotally joining the same, locking means for retaining said worm in its working position when said handle is actuated in the working direction and to release said worm for axial displacement from its working position when said handle is moved in its return direction, said tongue having an opening formed therein, and a stern extending perpendicular to the main plain of the wrench passing through said opening in said tongue between said legs of said forklike end of said handle, said stern being supported at its ends on said legs of said fork-like end of said handle, said stem being positioned to engage the edge contour of said opening to limit the swinging movement of said wrench head and said handle reciprocally, said stem being positioned, with said worm in its working position, to take a stop position fixed by the edge contour of said opening by bearing on said edge contour during turning of the wrench in the working direction to turn a work piece so that said stem positively urges the wrench head in the working direction by direct contact with the edge contour of said opening.

2. A combined adjustable spanner and ratchet wrench according to claim 1 comprising a spring inserted in said opening between said stem and the edge contour of said opening.

3. A combined adjustable spanner and ratchet wrench according to claim 2, wherein said opening has a totally closed edge contour and, at least partly, is bent in a circular line about the pivoting center of said wrench head and said handle.

4. A combined adjustable spanner and ratchet wrench according to claim 3 comprising a slide plate supporting said spring and located between said spring and the outer contour line of said opening.

5. A combined adjustable spanner and ratchet wrench according to claim 2 wherein said opening is formed by an at least approximately U-shaped recess cut into the edge of the tongue and having said spring inserted between said stem and the edge contour of the opening and also being provided with a removable cover plate closing said opening and supporting said spring.

6. A combined adjustable spanner and ratchet wrench according to claim 1 comprising an engageable 6 i disengageable locking member lPcated between 7. A combined adjustable spanner and ratchet said legs at their base end and cooperatlng wlthashoulwrench according to claim 6 wherein Said locking der or the like extending from the extreme end of said tongue, said locking member being arranged in its enmember pwotany borne by a Shaft arranged m at gaged position to lock or fix said wrench head and said 5 least one of Said legs adjacent to the base thereofhandle reciprocally in their working position. 

1. A combined adjustable spanner and ratchet wrench adapted to clamp and turn a work piece when turned in the working direction and to slide on the work piece without turning the samE when turned in the return direction opposite to the working direction, said wrench comprising a wrench head having a fixed jaw and a moveable jaw, means for setting the moveable jaw including a rack on the moveable jaw and a worm engaging said rack and displaceable axially between two limitary positions including a working position, a handle having a fork-like construction at one end provided by a pair of legs, said wrench head having a tongue projecting centrally therefrom and being embraced by said legs of said fork-like end of said handle, axle means perpendicular to the main plane of the wrench received in said wrench head and said handle for pivotally joining the same, locking means for retaining said worm in its working position when said handle is actuated in the working direction and to release said worm for axial displacement from its working position when said handle is moved in its return direction, said tongue having an opening formed therein, and a stem extending perpendicular to the main plain of the wrench passing through said opening in said tongue between said legs of said fork-like end of said handle, said stem being supported at its ends on said legs of said fork-like end of said handle, said stem being positioned to engage the edge contour of said opening to limit the swinging movement of said wrench head and said handle reciprocally, said stem being positioned, with said worm in its working position, to take a stop position fixed by the edge contour of said opening by bearing on said edge contour during turning of the wrench in the working direction to turn a work piece so that said stem positively urges the wrench head in the working direction by direct contact with the edge contour of said opening.
 2. A combined adjustable spanner and ratchet wrench according to claim 1 comprising a spring inserted in said opening between said stem and the edge contour of said opening.
 3. A combined adjustable spanner and ratchet wrench according to claim 2, wherein said opening has a totally closed edge contour and, at least partly, is bent in a circular line about the pivoting center of said wrench head and said handle.
 4. A combined adjustable spanner and ratchet wrench according to claim 3 comprising a slide plate supporting said spring and located between said spring and the outer contour line of said opening.
 5. A combined adjustable spanner and ratchet wrench according to claim 2 wherein said opening is formed by an at least approximately U-shaped recess cut into the edge of the tongue and having said spring inserted between said stem and the edge contour of the opening and also being provided with a removable cover plate closing said opening and supporting said spring.
 6. A combined adjustable spanner and ratchet wrench according to claim 1 comprising an engageable and disengageable locking member located between said legs at their base end and cooperating with a shoulder or the like extending from the extreme end of said tongue, said locking member being arranged in its engaged position to lock or fix said wrench head and said handle reciprocally in their working position.
 7. A combined adjustable spanner and ratchet wrench according to claim 6 wherein said locking member is pivotally borne by a shaft arranged in at least one of said legs adjacent to the base thereof. 